What to make of the Patriots' 41-34 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium?

The optimists would point out the New Englanders displayed resiliency and character, rallying from 28 points down early in the second half to tie the score at 31-all with just under seven minutes to play.

The comeback occurred in cold, rainy conditions and on the same field where, six days earlier, the AFC-leading Houston Texans found themselves in a similar situation against the Patriots and surrendered.

“I thought they fought hard, absolutely,” a still sullen sounding coach Bill Belichick said yesterday in a conference call. “Yeah, I thought they fought hard and competed well, it just wasn't good enough. It was just too many bad plays, too many mistakes; it just wasn't good enough.”

It was the third time this season the Patriots trailed by double digits in the second half. Their comeback bid from 10 points down against Arizona was (barely) unsuccessful in Week 2 while they were able to erase a 14-point deficit in a win against Buffalo two weeks later.

So there are plenty of examples of competitiveness from this young club. What its demanding coach would also like to see is better execution and more consistency.

“I don't think that's been a problem this year,” Belichick said of submitting a 60-minute effort. “It's more about the level of it, not, 'Are we competitive?' It's just how well or not well we do the things that we're trying to do.

That's where the pessimists come in.

Some disconcerting issues that appeared to be solved or at least partially rectified resurfaced against the 49ers.

Stevan Ridley ranks eighth in the NFL with 1,105 rushing yards and is tied for fourth with 10 rushing touchdowns. He's run for 100-plus yards four times and scored in nine games while becoming an integral component of the Patriots' multi-faceted offense.

However, his legs aren't the issue. It's his hands.

Ridley lost the ball twice Sunday. The first time, after Belichick challenged the initial ruling, the ground was determined to have caused the fumble. Neither he nor the Patriots were as fortunate in the second instance.

Ridley coughed up the football in San Francisco territory and safety Dashon Goldson returned it to the New England 3. The 49ers scored one play later, giving them a 31-3 lead with 10:21 remaining in the third quarter.

Dating to late last season, Ridley has fumbled five times in 339 carries. For perspective, BenJarvus Green-Ellis — the guy Ridley replaced — didn't fumble once in 510 carries during his four seasons in New England.

“No one is harder on myself than me,” Ridley said afterward. “Nobody is more upset when I fumble than (I am). For me I just have to keep working. There's a lot of football left to be played.

“But I have to do better,” he went on to say. “I have to do better in game situations holding onto the football. We can't have mistakes like that.”

The wet conditions were undoubtedly a factor — the 49ers fumbled six times, losing one — but it doesn't appear as if Belichick cared.

Ridley played one offensive snap the rest of the game following his fumble. That's one more than fellow sophomore Shane Vereen got after his fumble following a reception was recovered by the 49ers.

Danny Woodhead was outstanding Sunday with 61 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and five receptions, but he's best when used in small doses. If Ridley can't be trusted in the role of lead back the Patriots are going to have a serious issue going forward.

Then there's the defense, which had allowed 19, 16 and 14 points the last three weeks before surrendering a season-high 41 to San Francisco. The culprit, as has been the case for most of the season, was a propensity for surrendering long pass plays.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw touchdowns of 24, 34, 27 and 38 yards and added a 26-yard completion while squandering a couple of other long ball opportunities to open receivers.

The Patriots have allowed a league-high tying 68 receptions of 20-plus yards, but had given up a manageable nine in the last three games.

“We did a good job of making adjustments,” cornerback Aqib Talib said. “We didn't do a good job of executing. We let too many balls get deep on us.

One change was to reinsert Patrick Chung at safety in place of Steve Gregory. Belichick said that wasn't a performance-based move, though.

The Patriots chances of securing a first-round bye were greatly diminished with their latest loss. They need to win their final two games, against Jacksonville next Sunday and Miami on Dec. 30, and hope Denver loses a home game to either Cleveland or Kansas City to grab the No. 2 seed.

So where do they go from here?

“I'd say we pretty much do the same thing we always do,” Belichick said. “We'll look and talk about the game. We'll talk about the things that we did right and reinforce those. We'll talk about the things we did wrong and correct those. Once that's over with, we'll put this game to rest and move on to Jacksonville.”